Boiler conditioning apparatus



Jan. 16, 1945. F. w. MILLER BOILER CONDITIONING APPARATUS- Original Filed Sept. 50, 1937 itmk 2 v INVENTOR. I Bani; M Miller Reissued Jan. 16, 1945 UNITED, STATES PATENT OFFICE BOILER CONDITIONING APPARATUS Frank W. Miller, Chicago; 111., assignor to Franclare Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois Original No. 2,224,605,, dated December 10, 1940, Serial No. 300,330,.O'ct'ober 20, 1939, which is a division of Serial No. 16.6.509, September 30, 1937. Application for reissue May 4, 1942, Se-

rial N o. 441,626-

This invention relates to the conditioning of steam boilers generally by wholly or, partially blowing off the" contaminated fluid contents ofthe boiler and replacing the same with clean, fresh water.- While the invention is adapted for usein connection with boilers of the stationary type, itis particularly advantageous in the reconditioning of locomotive-boilersbecause it onables such boilers to be'reconditioned or replen lshed' with steam and water to-produce or maintain in the boiler sufficient steaming pressure to make the locomotive self-propelling. This application is-a divisionof my application Serial No. 166509, filed September 30, 1937; now'Patent No. 212603357, issued October 28, 1941.

Oneof' the-primary purposes of my presentinvention isto provide an apparatus of the character: indicated. which. will be capable of increas-- ing the temperature of" the refill water approximately 50?'F. by'the admixture andentrainrnent off steam inv such water and without the prod'uction of any appreciable Water hammer.

In; accordance with my invention, the water under high pressure is employed as the propulsive" force and is' delivered from a nozzle into thethroat of a Ventur-i tube e'inbodied'in a so-oalled? heat-booster, while the steam under a lower" pressure than the water is drawn inlarge quantities intothe streama-t'the low pressure-area in the throat: of the venturi with" the result? that steam heat units in large volume are add'edto thewater tb' raise its temperature=well abovethe boiling point so that in practice the water is delivered to the boiler at a steaming temperature of 235" F. or'more'. In this manner, theboiler can be" quickly refilled with water to the desired water levelat which time a substantial steam pressurewill have-been created in the boiler. If such pressure be insufllciEntfDr the self-propulsion of" thelocomotive, the water may be cut ofi when the appropriate water level in the boiler has been'reached, and steam alone may thereafter be admitted until the desiredboiler pressure has been reached.

For? the purpose of" facilitating anunderstandlngof the principles of. my'invention, I have i1- lustrated on the accompanying drawing. a preferred embo'dimentthercof, although it should be understood that theinvention iscapable ofjembodiment in apparatus both for. locomotive andv stationary boilers in st'ructuralassemblies differ.- ing, substantially from. the present. illustrative disclosure. Referring, to. the drawing,

section of one of the servicing units located adjacent a round house stall, and

Fig. 2 i a vertical sectional VlEW-' through the heat booster shown in Fig. 1. I

Referring to the drawing more in detail, the apparatus comprises a blow-01f line I2 through which blow-off products from the locomotive boiler are delivered for conservation in the usual manner, a washout line I6 to which washout water is delivered from any suitable source and from which it" is delivered through a drop [1 and a washout nozzle (not shown) to the interior of the boiler for washout purposes, a refill line 28 which is-supplied with refill water by a high pressure pump adapted todeliver the water under a pressure of 120 or more pounds, and a live steam line 38 connected with anysuitable steam source;

the various lines and the connected apparatus being supported upon a bracket- 39or other suitable support; The steam pressure in line 38 is maintained substantially below the water pressure in the refill line 28- by a pressure regulator of standard construction (not shown), all as fully described in: my; parent application above iden tified'. I

Referring now more particularly to Fig; 1

wherein the washout, blow-oiT, refill and live Flg, 1 is a. fragmentary. elevation. partiall in steam lines are. shown in section, it will beobserved-Ithatr'each of these lines is connected with the main drop 8 of the service'unit in a manner which will be explained. The drop 8 i adapted -to be put in communication with the interior of the" boiler shell Hl by" intervening flexible connections including the pipe 9 and swivel joints Ill. Therefill line 28 is connected through a riser 4i, preferably of inverted U shape with the upper end 42. of: a nozzle- 43 projecting intothe upper end of casing 44' of the heat booster and secured tothe casing by bolts 45 which also serve as a hanger fortheboosten. Oneleg of the riseris equipped with a. check-valve 46. adapted to prevent reverse flow into the refill line and witha shut-01f valve 41 providedwith an operating lever 48 which may be. actuated from'the. floor through the medium I of drop chain's fl9and15lequipped with hand grips 52 and 53respectively.

The booster casing 44 is of elongated cylindrical shapelprovided with an internal shoulder upon which a flanged Venturitube v55 iss'eated in alignmentwith and. slightly spaced fromv the end ofthe nozzle 43, the bore of which, as will be apparent from Fig. .3, is tapered.

The live steam line 38 1 is connected with. the interior of the casing 44 in proximity to the nozzle 43-andahead of the -venturi'55, through a pipe 56 operable from the fioor through chains 58 and with an adjustable regulating valve 59, which may be manually set to deliver at any predetermined rate of flow.

The casing 44 is also provided with a lateral branch 6| which is connected through a pipe 62 to the blow-ofi line l2, this pipe being provided with a check valve 63 to prevent reverse flow from blow-ofi line I2 to the booster and with a shut-on valve 64 provided with an operating lever 65 whichmay be actuated from the floor through the chains 66 and 61 equipped respectively with the hand grips 68 and 69.

The apparatus functions substantially as follows:

the boiler to be blown off, valve 41 and 51 are closed, and valve 64 is opened to permit the boiler contents to be wholly or partially blown on through the blow-off line I2. If partial blow-off of contaminated water and replacement thereof by fresh water is contemplated while maintaining the boiler under steam pressure, valve 64 is closed and valves 41 and 51 are opened after a predetermined quantity of the contaminated water has been blown oil. Thereupon water under pressure Assuming that the conduit 9 is connected with in excess of the boiler pressure is delivered from the refill line 28 through the nozzle 43 and venturi 55, and steam under a lower pressure is delivered from the steam line 38 into the booster 44 around nozzle 43 from pipe 56.

As the water under higher pressure than the steam is discharged by the nozzle through the venturi, its velocity is increased and its static pressure is decreased at the throat of the venturi so that the steam surrounding the nozzle is injected into and entrained in the water in large quantities, thereby raising the temperature of the water from around 200 to 240 to 250 so that the water when delivered into the boiler is con-v siderably above steaming temperature.

When the blown-oil contaminated water has been replaced by an equal quantity of fresh water, thereby restoring the water level in the boiler, valves 41 and 51 are closed and valve 64 is opened permitting another partial blow-off. The alternate partial blowing 011' and replacement of the blown-off water with fresh water iscontinued until the boiler contains the desired amount of. water and of a condition suitable for further continued operation'of the boiler.

If a complete blowing off, washout and refillingv operation is to be performed, valve 64 remains open while valves 41 and 51 remain closed'untilthe entire contents of the boiler have been blown off. Thereupon, the boiler may be washed out by water delivered from the drop I! in the usual manner and then refilled with clean fresh water from the refill line 28 heated to above steaming as the propulsive force in the booster and delivering this water at a substantially higher pressure which is equipped with a hand shut-01f valve 51 than the pressure of the heating steam, which enters the chamber around the nozzle at a lower pressure than the water and is drawn in large quantities into the water stream by the temporary reduction in pressure in the throat of the venturi which enables the steam to enter the venturi and become thoroughly mingled with and entrained in the water as the stream reassumes its normal pressure and velocity upon expansion beyond the venturi.

With a system embodying my invention it is 4 self-propulsion of the locomotive, the valve 41 may be closed when the desired water level in the boiler has been attained and the valve 51 left open to thereby supply additional steam to the boiler until a self-propelling pressure has been established therein.

It is believed that my invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood and appreciated from the foregoing, and it should be manifest that the structural details shown and described for illustrative purposes may be varied within wide limits within the scope of my invention as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A boiler conditioning apparatus comprising a cylindrical casingprovided with an internal, annular shoulder, a Venturi tube seated onsaid shoulder, a nozzle projecting into the upper end of the casing into cooperative relation to said venturi, means for securing said nozzle in position, means for supplying water under pressure to said nozzle, means for supplying steam under a lower pressure than the water to the casin in the vicinity of the mouth of the venturi, a conduit of smaller diameter than the casing connected to the lower end of the casing and adapted for connection with a. boiler shell, said casing providing a chamber between the delivery end of the venturi and said pipe of greater cross sectional area than that of the stream of water entering the chamber through said venturi, and means for controlling the delivery of said steam and water to said casing.

2. A boiler conditioning apparatus comprising a cylindrical casing provided with an internal, annular shoulder, a Venturi tube seated on said shoulder, a nozzle projecting into the upper end ofthe casing into cooperative relation to said venturi, means for securing said nozzle in position, means for supplying water under pressure to said nozzle, means for supplying steam under a lower pressure than the water to the casing in the vicinity of the mouth of the venturi, a conduit of smaller diameter than the casin connected to the lower end of the casing and adapted for connection with a boiler shelLsaid casing throughswhich boiler blowoff products delivered to the chamber by the conduit connected to the boiler shell are discharged. I

3. A boiler conditioning apparatus comprising a cylindrical casing having a Venturi tube disposed therein in spaced relation to the upper end in; chamber above the venturi thereoi, a nozzle projecting into said upper end of said casing in alignment with and into proxty to the mouth of said venturi, said nozzle being externally tapered to provide a surroundof increasing cross-sectional area toward the venturi, means for securing said nozzle in position, means for supplying water under pressure to said nozzle, means for supplying steam under a lower pressure than the water to the tapered chamber surrounding said nozzle above the venturi, a conduit of smaller diameter than the casing connected to the lower end of the casing and adapted for connection with a boiler shell, said casing providing a chamber between the delivery end of the venturi and said pipe of greater crosssectional area than that of the stream of'water entering the chamber through said venturi, and

' means for controlling the delivery of said steam and water to said casing.

FRANK W. MILLER. 

